Beavs high on Arizona QB, feeling mutual

Barry Bolton

05/29/2007

ONE WEST COAST QUARTERBACK prospect who has seen his stock soar this recruiting season is Scottsdale's Sean Renfree. Oregon State was first to offer, Renfree has the Beavs high on his list and OSU has maintained a strong recruiting effort ever since -- but others are also coming on strong. The 6-2.5, 205-pounder has a busy schedule on tap in June, and a verbal commitment could soon follow.

In addition to Oregon State, Renfree, out of Notre Dame Preparatory, holds five other offers, from Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford and Army. While all the offering schools and a few who others are showing Renfree plenty of the recruiting love, the Beavs and Yellow Jackets are recruiting the hardest.

"Georgia Tech has been talking to me a lot and so has Oregon State. I love both of those coaching staffs. Both seem to have a lot of really good guys with a lot of character," said Renfree.

RENFREE TOOK AN unofficial visit to Oregon State last month.

"I probably get about 3-5 text messages a day and then sometimes I'll talk with their coaches, maybe once every week or two weeks I'll give them a call. I've seen them at some camps I've gone to and I took an unofficial there about a month ago. I really like their coaching staff," he said.

The Georgia Tech coaches have also made an impression during the recruiting process and three of them in particular did so during the May Evaluation period.

"Georgia Tech and Oregon State do send me a lot of letters and text messages but what's most important to me is talking with them," said Renfree. "When Georgia Tech's coaches came out, three of them came out... I was pretty impressed."

Some other schools who have not offered but are also recruiting hard are Boise State and Northwestern, said Renfree.

AN AMBITIOUS COLLEGE TOUR is planned for the month of June, when schools hold their summer youth camps. A verbal commitment, Renfree said, could follow shortly thereafter.

"I'll probably go to all the schools that have offered me so far. Depending on how many more offers I pick up, I'll probably go those camps as well. I was planning on getting it done around June, all the camps will be done by then. If I could, if I have a definite and (thoroughly researched) decision, I would like to commit in late June after all the camps are done. That could change, but that's when I'd like to commit so I can focus on my high school team and winning games," he said.

AS FOR A LEADER or top five, he said those remain fluid, although he said he's high on Oregon State, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Arizona State. Cal was formerly among his top five but has since dropped off his list.

"Someone just committed there (Beau Sweeney) so they're probably not in a top five. And I don't really have a definite top five, that is to say I'm not going to consider other schools. Those are schools that have showed me a lot of interest so I'm going to be pretty interested in them. And it could change, I'm going to definitely look at all schools equally," said Renfree.

Education, strength of the program, the coaches and team chemistry are among the criteria on which Renfree will base his decision. Distance, he said, will not be a factor.